EA is Focused on Nintendo Switch Portability and "Exploring Other Products"

I wonder how FIFA will sell and if it'll be an indicator of the future of 3rd party on the Switch.

I sure hope so. Console games on the go is too great to pass up.

Yeah yeah, FIFA whatever...
Are you developing Battlefront 2 for switch or not, EA?

I think the most interesting aspect of the article is

"but Miele dismissed the notion that EA's Switch support is hampered by the hardware's limited horsepower."

So what exactly is up with support?

@Nintendoforlife

Follow the money. The momentum may stall out, and I doubt EA was developing when the dev kits were sold last year.

Ninten-woes. If it sells, they will come.

A "Classic" Need For Speed?!, Burnout?!, MySims?!, Sim City?!
well, I will be waiting, XD

They clearly or naively see the Switch as a portable console only, at least this is how they are spinning it. Hey EA did you get the memo, it does both!! So their excuse for not porting isn't a technical one (but of course it is) it's gotta fit the "portable" style of play.

If they don't wanna make games for the Switch because they have zero confidence in it, they should just say so, but they obviously don't want to put their collective foot/feet in their mouths.

I do want third party support for Switch and will support those games that I actually WANT to play, but if EA is basing their whole support off one game, let alone one genre and one sport, well we shouldn't have high hopes for EA Switch support in the future.

You can't spell "dEAth" without EA.

"So I think it's a strong mutual partnership with Nintendo." - EA executive VP of global publishing, Laura Miele.

Would you go so far as to call it an "unprecedented partnership" Laura?

I don't mind if they brag up the portable modes as long they don't force players to only play in portable mode

I'll be buying FIFA.

Not only does it look quality and fun, but I put my money where my mouth is. I don't go blabbering on about wanting 3rd party games, then snub my nose at everything that releases on the system.

After the Wii U, can't really blame anyone for being hesitant. But as Switch continues to sell, confidence will be restored and we'll gradually see more and more developers want a seat at the table.

For now, Nintendo needs to keep up the "one major game per month" strategy. As long as they do that, Switch will be just fine for the first few years until the full brunt of industry support arrives

Of course they are playing up the portable FIFA aspect - the Switch version can't compete with the other home console versions. Therefore they have to focus on the portable nature of this, otherwise why would anyone buy it?

I've not owned a FIFA since 99 on the N64. I've mainly played PES on my friends playstations since then and more recently on my ps4. Konami still can't be bothered to put it on Nintendo so if this reviews well and has decent online, I think it'll get my money.

This will be great. Anyone that loves football. This is a MUST BUY.

@JaxonH I can see your point re showing that Nintendo owners do but third party but I think one potential problem with that is, if we have to end up buying crappy half arsed ports to prove this point your average publisher is going to assume that we'll snap up any old tosh and keep throwing that at us!!
I'm not saying that this FIFA looks bad, it actually looks considerably better than I was expecting but for every decent effort there are two (or more!) rush jobs.

One thing that I don't understand though is the perception by developers and publishers that Nintendo gamers don't want the full blooded experience, it must be 'different' (i.e. watered (dumbed) down and possibly include some 'party' game gimmick) Surely the continued poor sales of such iterations have proven that false?

"We love the mobility of the Switch"

Okay, EA. Please bring The Sims 4 to Nintendo Switch just like The Sims 4 Mobile version for IOs & Android.

Can't wait to see what your 5 year-old port will be for the Switch.

Just don't expect people to bring their Switches to soccer games or skate parks and have 3 other people there with Switches too like Nintendo likes to portray in their Directs.

@SmithJurd
I would never advocate buying a shoddy game.

At the same time, I think Nintendo gamers are all too quick to look for any little reason they can find to label 3rd party games "shoddy" and therefore skip them. Such as this game here. It's a solid release. But watch how many people use "But it doesn't have the cinematic story cutscenes" as an excuse to not buy it (despite the fact... It's a sports game, who cares, it's got all the main modes and functionality and, it's both console version and HD handheld version. Any negative from missing a trivial cinematic mode for a sports game is far outweighed by the sheer value of it's robust features doubling as 2 versions in 1)

So ya. People should not buy bad games just to show support. But they shouldn't try so hard to find any little reason to label games as "bad".

It's the core function of the Switch that will either rocket it to success or forever doom it.

I have to see some direct docked FIFA gameplay first before I decide if I want to support EA in anything. Every so far is nice but we need to know a bit more.

Like all other third parties, EA made it quite clear at E3 that they are not interested in the Switch.

Dear EA,

NHL, or GTFO.

when EA has better support for Nintendo than Capcom

Good to hear that EA has confirmed the Need for Speed developer's statement that tech isn't really the big issue preventing some EA games from being brought over to the Switch.

At the very least, EA should bring over their other EA Sports games (Madden, NHL, PGA, UFC, NBA Live) to the Switch. Even if EA still doesn't want to bring the Frostbite engine to the Switch, they could simply use the same custom FIFA Switch engine when developing other EA Sports games on the Switch.

Doing that would help take care of "issues" surrounding the "different interface, different experience, different features, and different flow" that EA claims they may run into when developing Switch games, since EA seems to have (mostly) resolved those "issues" with the Switch version of FIFA 18.

"We never want to do just a direct port of something"

That'll explain why the games they release on both PS4 and Xbox One are sooooooooo different from one another....

That's basically what I think of the Nintendo Switch: a very powerful portable that can also be played on a tv.

So far I'm not shocked the support is still not that great for the system from third party, but I do hope that changes and the Switch gets a lot of very unique, exclusive third party games.

I think third party developers are still nervous to put their games on a Nintendo system, but if players buy the games, that will probably change.

EA actually thinking about unique ways to play depending on the console...lol. I'll believe when I see it. Not a FIFA fan so sorry y'all if EA decides to pull the plug because my American needs aren't met. No sale from me.

Basically, we're seeing a Wii situation again... except that, at least this time, EA is trying with their ports. FIFA for Switch looks great.

I won't get it since I'm no videogame sport fan - only care for those that have a RPG mode - but I hope it does well. I still don't have too much hopes for their support, in other interview they practically confirmed that Frostbite's team is so overworked that any possible port or update is out of the question for know, so cero hopes for "modern" games.

If they do bring Plants vs Zombies I'll get that.

This is one example of where I will forgo the ps4 version and get for the switch. Getting both home and portable versions in one sale will save me money as I usually get the ps and ios versions. I have a house full of boys! And with both using the same mechanics I have a very slight outside chance of beating my boys at least a few times if I practice on the quite

Back it up with GAMES EA.

Also how is it a different interface? The joycons have the same input attached to the unit or to the grip. Ugh. Can they just borrow someone from Nintendo's R&D so they can understand what the system is about?

@LeRaposa Really? I seem to remember Ubisoft opening with a new switch IP. Even Mircosoft showed the switch. If fact the only press conference that did not cover the switch at some point was Sony.

@westman98 I dont think they should bring their other sports games to the Switch. At least not until they see if it's wprth it. I do think they should bring Madden over asap though. There are also definitely great games they could bring over that would make sense that aren't Battlefront, Battlefield, or Mass Effect. Need for Speed being one of them as I assume the series has done typically well considering it releasing on Nintendo consoles until the Wii U

"EA has been the company most blatantly shifting the message"
Yes, because they are strategically marginalizing and trying to reposition the Switch in the public mindshare as a product not in the same space as that of their immediate partners. It's a 5th column attack.

And Bethesda is showing tabletop console mode on a game that's entire purpose of being ported is that it's player community has been wishing for a portable version for over half a decade, not simply because switch is a handheld.

@Luna_110 they have an in house dev team just for an engine supported on 3 platforms including pc, 2 of which are 3 years old. If they are overworked that v they can't add a platform, investors should start worrying where their money is going.....

"if you're playing on the sticks in your living room"

Does anyone actually call them that?

@NEStalgia
That's the thing - it seems the Frostbite team its ridiculously small and now is focused on adding making Frostbite take advantage of the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X.

The interview, plus a couple of post that I read in NeoGAF seemed to point in the direction that they don't have the manpower to include Vulkan API now, which is one of the things needed to support the Switch. It is supposedly in the drainpipe, to support more modern portables down the road, but it took a backseat.

Plus, the posibility that would have been Frostbite GO, the version developed for portables like the iPad is supposedly also on the backburner....

I'm not that surprised. It's EA. We're talking about the guys that threw Mass Effect to a B-C team (being one of their main franchises) and potentially killing it, while assigning the A team to a new unproven IP.

@JaxonH Can't disagree with you there. And for the record, as long as this one turns out the way it's looking so far I will definitely be picking it up once I've bought a Switch. I have no interest in story modes in sports games.

Well, after seeing how choppy it looked (animations, not framerate), I ain't interested. Maybe make a 'console quality title next time that you can take in the go with you and I'll be there. I'd like to see it on the big screen at 1080p 60 fps like it has been confirmed JUST to make certain. Until then... meh.

PS4 and XB1 run on the Frostbite engine while the Switch version will be on a specifically built engine called Coldfeet.

@Freek LOL!

Though I haven't been the biggest fan of EA, this is good it seems. I'd like to see something other than sports from them.

@caljr_8760
EA Sports games are much easier to develop and port over than games like Battlefield, Battlefront, Anthem, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Titanfall, etc, so that's why I think EA should bring those games over the Switch.

But if there was a non-EA Sports game that should be brought over to the Switch, Need for Speed seems like a viable candidate (that NFS developer from E3 seems to agree), as well as a Popcap game like Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare.

@JaxonH
I was a bit worried about getting a gimped version, but as long as it isn't gimped and release she simultaneously, I'll be buying this for my Switch instead of my PS4.

Seriously, people have to buy more than Nintendo products if you want more 3rd party support. Companies also have a responsibility to bring a quality product, but companies won't REALLY move IPs to the Switch unless they are certain to make money.

Here's to hoping EA and others finally bring the support for 2018.

To be honest, I have zero interest in FIFA but watching that video was kind of depressing. That guy should not be trying to sell a FIFA game on Switch to you because he just made it sound like it's not as good as everything else available... but you can play it at an airport? lol

I use my switch in docked mode 100% of the time. Don't put all your eggs in the portable basket EA.

"We never want to do just a direct port of something". Isn't that what EA does more or less with their games on legacy hardware. Pffft, the money bags up at EA headquarters must have enough pocket change laying around to at least give each iteration a new lick of paint.

Basically, "It's a portable console! So these are portable versions of our console games, which is why they're missing features!"

Yeah. EA loves it. They have an excuse now.

Personally I think soccer is boring. I don't understand the worlds' obsession with it (I don't like foot ball either, brits friends). I'd rather much have more GAMER games on Switch.

Then again...I have a PC so whatever.

It is portable console.

Why deny it?

It hasn't got the same horsepower as the other two especially with their teraflop-gpu-4k-my-weiner-is-bigger-than-yours-middlegen-upgrades.

So what.

It's a portable console.

That's enough. And I'll be getting that FIFA thank you. NOT because I see any sort of need or obligation to support third parties, but because I want to play FIFA anywhere on the go and then end the seasons with the most crucial matches on my gigantic tv.

That's what I want.

From what I understand the gameplay in the Switch version is a bit more arcadey to encourage more of a pick up and play feel. This suggests that it's more than a half arsed port and the developers have really thought about the console and it's unique attributes. I'll probably pick this up but still need more info.

@LUIGITORNADO I'm with you on the "soccer is boring" thing, but I do love me some American football. Although, I did try Madden on Wii U and I wasn't too impressed with it.

I'd much rather see 2K Sports bring an NCAA college football game to Switch. I always liked 2K's football games over EA's. They do still get to do the college football stuff, right? Or does EA own all that, too?

Speaking of 2K Sports, when is their NBA 2K18 being released? I don't have a Switch yet, but I'd like to get that when I do get a Switch.

Did anyone at E3 report that they got to try the Switch version docked? It sure won't look as good as the other versions, but I just hope it holds up. We need good sports games. They are one of casual gamers biggest reasons to buy consoles. Like my neighbour who is waiting to switch out his old PS3 (for which he only has FIFA games and some shoothers) with a new console when FIFA18 comes out. Wish I could recommend him getting a Switch, but don't know if I should bother to try convince him...

And I want the gameplay to be exactly like the other versions so that I get to practice and don't have any disadvantage playing FIFA with friends on their consoles. And that it feels the same for them coming over to me and play it on the Switch!

Will there be a Boom Blox sequel?

It's funny. I hate football. It's my least favourite sport to partake in but I love playing football on consoles (mainly cause I'm better playing it in the computer) and it's fun of course. This fifa looks fantastic of I'm honest. Sure it's not as crisp and clean as the ps4/xb1 versions but it does look very nice and from what we've seen it plays well too. All the modes that are included are the exact same as the other versions minus the journey mode but they've included a different mode ad a replacement that isn't on the other versions (I think I remember reading that somewhere). It's got all the modes you need to have fun and play it enjoyably until the next iteration of fifa come along. It doesn't seem half arsed at all. Imo if you like fifa, own a switch and like the idea of being able to play it portable then snap it up cause it seems like fifa for once tried to genuinely give us something different but at least good and not half arsed.

Football is football every fifa game ive played since 1995 lol feels the same as i just see it as football yes they may have got better visually but at the end of the day you just trying to score goals to win and this is why i dont care about all this journey rubbish or frostbite etc lol just score some goals man

Give me my dream EA, portable NHL.

I wont be picking this up as i dont like football enough to spend £55, but i hope for everyone that does its a great addition to the console.

I'd much prefer activision get it together and release a tony hawk pro skater collection 😃 ...now that is a sports game i'd buy.

I hate this corporate speech so much.

I know people are upset about them looking at it strictly as portable but why? If they were to compare it to other versions there wouldn't be much good to say from a PR standpoint. Face it, the Switch's big hook is that you can take it with you. Kind of wish there was a motion control option for when I'm at home though.

@Joytendo22 cool. If I start saving my pennies right now, I might be able to get it... That is if the Switch is in stock at the time.

@NEStalgia Dude, don't you think Nintendo are positioning the Switch as 'not in the same space as the other consoles'? Have you seen their advertising?

EA just want to make money - they're not going nterested in 'supporting' the Switch - why should they if it doesn't suit them?

Their customer base is planted firmly in the 'traditional high powered home console' bracket. People who place a lot of value on latest graphical fidelity and bells and whistles. They're just trying to sell the idea of the Switch to those folks so they can sell them another version of the game.

A portable of version of The Sims please

PS. Real Sims gameplay, not MySims spin-off.

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Fifa on home consoles involves a shipload of complex button presses combined with two analogue sticks; Fifa on Switch needs to be playable with individual joy-cons to take advantage of one of the device's best features: local multiplayer on the go.

i said it before and i'll say it again, if developers and publishers want to see the Switch as a handheld system then it's fine if it means it gets strong third party support

I show little interest in FIFA but pick it up on the cheap a few years on and always enjoy playing it. I'm excited for this one simplifying the buttons for the joy cons might mean I can finally convince others to play with me as they complain it's too complicated.
Day one for me I can't wait especially since seeing some footage it looks ace!
(Not interested in it being the same as other consoles I want it to be different)

I think a rephrase is required here, it's not that they are looking at portability, it's actually profitability.

Lol some people need a tissue, for those tears 😢 haha

Tnx EA for fifa, i hope to see more gems from your company.

Explore harder. A NFS game would be most welcome.

@JaxonH
I totally agree with your comment and understand that sales of the game will help to get more from them. But I am not sure that good sales of a single game will make any difference, won't they want the userbase to be there first?

@dew12333
Of course it'll be a huge help, but every game matters. And this is their most popular, high selling game. If this can't do well, then it's not looking good.

Even just going with "collections" of the mass effect and dead space trilogies being portable would make me happy.

NHL please. Being able to manage my NHL Ultimate Team and my card auctions at anytime of day from anywhere, and squeeze in an online HUT game on my breaks would be an unbelievable evolution in how sports games are played.

People if u r buying FIFA18 please do so on Switch so we can get NHL, NBA, Plant vs Zombies 3 and maybe Star Wars 2.

@daveh30 @Jessica286 damn right. Literally the only EA game I would full price day one buy on Switch. HUT and EASHL account for 90% of my hours in a year. Taking that full mobile would be mind blowing my awesome

I think dialling back the hardware performance of a video game console so that you can make it fully mobile is probably the biggest and most evolutionary step gaming has taken since we saw Mario 64 running as the first leap from 2D Super Mario World, or the first time you played online using PSN. Making your home console playable anywhere at all gives you ridiculous freedom over how and when you game. Never in history has your gaming been so readily accessible, literally 24 hours a day.

If we don't see this shoot through the roof in terms of success then the market is nonlknger interested in gaming, but rather in marketing/advertising/EA sequels/What Sony tell them to buy.

People buy Fifa because Konami is not releasing PES for Switch, that's it thanks bye.
Where is Snes VC? Cool.

NHL please

At least there taking a unique spin on it, it's like a semi console exclusive. There's features you'll only get on switch...sooooooooooooooo you know try to take a positive view

@Luna_110 Buy a company for the engine, vow to use the engine for every game you make, then fire half the team. Fantastic long-term planning, EA! Never make an SRPG.

I wonder what the point of putting the "Bioware" label on Mass Effect is when "Bioware" is just an absorbed entity into EA, and it wasn't even the "Bioware" team working on the game. And that new IP.....looks like exactly what I'd expect from "EA's Bioware" right down to being massively online. Why on earth would they be using Bioware's RPG creds on that and not on the RPG? Doing the proper reveal at Microsoft's show instead of their own is just the "EA being EA" icing on the cake.

I don't buy the argument that portable games need to be designed differently because portable audiences want smaller, bite-sized gameplay segments. That's crap. For example, I'd love to play a souls game on the go, and I wouldn't have any problem just dropping it at any time because those games save constantly. Zelda isn't a problem on portable because you can save any time anywhere. Switch's greatest potential is in full console gaming, but portable. This idea that games need to be wholly redesigned because portable audiences don't have the attention spans for home-TV games is garbage. I don't buy the argument from anyone, not just EA.

@TJM Certainly Nintendo is positioning switch as a different space. But they've also positioned it in a space with overlap.

Thomas likes conflating Bethesda's messaging with EAs, but there's a key difference. While both are highlighting portability what they highlight is different. Bethesda highlights what is consistent with Nintendo's own messaging: "Now you can take one of your favorite huge console games with you wherever you go !"(the whole point of Switch.) They even added features (motion controls, Amiibo support) to the console game. EA's messaging says "since Switch is a handheld we're not putting our console games on it, we're making separate handheld games" That's not the point of Switch. And they REMOVED features (story campaign.) The two messages couldn't be more different. Ubisoft, admittedly a close partner, is also sticking with the Bethesda-like messaging, as is Square Enix.

To understand EA's context you have to understand some of their history spanning some 30 years. The TL;DR version is: As the quote says, FIFA is the biggest game in the business. They have IMMENSE market power to shape how the public views gaming. And they have a long history of wielding that power to attempt to shape the industry and public mindshare around their own interests (which are traditionally closely aligned with Microsoft's, partly explained by a revolving door of upper management between the two companies.)

While WiiU was its own disaster that's a recent example of EA doing this. Very early on, despite their own lackluster support (yes NFS was excellent, but that was Criterion flipping off EA and making the best game they could in spite of them....something which helped get them shut down in everything but name shortly after.) EA's endless "leaks" and "unauthorized quotes" helped early on cement the industry viewpoint on that machine. It's not the first time they've done that.

What they're doing is a lot more sinister than "not supporting a console they don't think will make them money." Lots of companies do that. They're very (very) loudly using their one game to reframe the discussion of the Switch to suit their narrative. They're manipulating discourse to accept it as a handheld that doesn't play console games, directly undermining the messaging of the platform holder. A "partner" does not do that to affiliated companies. A "partner" makes sure they coordinate messaging. There is no partnership here. It's a hostile affiliation. Which is what EA is best at. In fact Microsoft is the only firm their affiliations HAVEN'T been hostile with for the past 3 decades.

It's similar to "watch words" in news articles when the "journalist" attempts to influence readers/viewers opinions on the subject by innocently lacing manipulative words in the text. EA could be highlighting that with the Switch you can now play FIFA 18 with friends anywhere. Instead, they omit the Switch version from their conference, and use every single PR opportunity to highlight that it's a different game because it's for a handheld, and that they have to consider how to port their games because they must be different because it's a handheld. They're handling it as though it's 3DS or Vita, and very loudly announcing it like a tic whenever they can. Something, that, so far, they are in fact the ONLY third party to be doing so.

It's not about Nintendo, about Switch, or about 3rd parties. It's squarely about EA and their history of manipulating the industry to their liking through their very big megaphone.

Unfortunately a lot of people seem to take what they say at face value without recognizing what they're actually playing at. It's subtle, which is precisely why it's effective.

@NEStalgia Well, you've given a strong and interesting argument. It's certainly deeper and better thought out than I gave you credit for.

Can't say I'm entirely convinced but you've given me food for thought. Cheers.